21 hast brought forth a son; but she made them no answer:

her heart regarded it not; but she called her son Ouaibarchaboth, for the ark of God, and for her father in law, and for her 22 husband. And they said, The glory departed from Israel, when the ark of the Lord was taken.

V.

Now when the Philistines had taken the ark of God, they 2 carried it from Abenezer to Azotus. And the Philistines took the Ark of the Lord, and carried it into the temple of Dagon, 3 and set it beside Dagon. But when the Azotians arose in the morning, and went into the temple of Dagon, they looked, and lo! Dagon had fallen on its face before the ark of God. Thereupon they raised up Dagon, and set him in his place. But the hand of the Lord was heavy on the Azotians; and he afflicted them, and smote them in the hinder parts, throughout Azotus 4 and its territories. And when they arose early next morning, behold Dagon was fallen prostrate before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; and the head of Dagon, and both his hands, had been hurled away in front of the Amapheth, and the palms of both his hands had fallen on the threshold, so that nothing 5 but the trunk of Dagon was left. For this cause the priests of Dagon, and every one who goeth into the temple of Dagon, do not, even at this day, tread on the threshold of the temple of Dagon, at Azotus, but step over it.

6

Still the hand of the Lord was heavy upon Azotus, and pressed them down. Leaks broke out in their vessels, and their country swarmed with mice, and in the city there was a great 7 confusion of mortality. And when the men of Azotus saw that this was the case, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us, for his hand is grievous upon us, and our 8 god Dagon. So they sent, and convened to them the lords of the Philistines, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? Whereupon the Gethites said, Let the ark of 9 the God come to us. So the ark of the God of Israel went to Geth. And when it went there, the hand of the Lord was upon that city, with very great destruction, and smote the men of that city, both small and great. He smote them in their hinder 10 parts, and the Gethites made stools for themselves. Then they sent the ark of God to Ascalon. But when the ark of God came to Ascalon, the Ascalonites cried out saying, Why have

you brought the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and 11 our people? So they sent and assembled the lords of the Phi

listines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and 12 let it abide in its own place, and not kill us and our people. For

a very deadly disorder broke out in the city, as soon as the ark of the God of Israel entered there; and they who were alive, and had not yet died, were smitten in their hinder parts. And the cry of the city ascended up to heaven.

VI. When the ark had been in the country of the Philistines

seven months, and the land poured forth swarms of mice, the 2 Philistines then called for their priests, and their diviners, and their sorcerers, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the 3 Lord? Tell us how we shall send it to its place. Whereupon they said, If you send away the ark of the covenant of the Lord God of Israel, you must not send it away empty, but make some atonement for the injury done it, and then you shall be 4 healed, and he will be appeased with you: otherwise his hand will not be removed from you. And they said, What atonement shall we make to it? To which they replied, According to the number of the lords of the Philistines, five golden 5 stools, for this is correspondent to the plague among you, both among your chiefs and people; and golden mice, as a semblance of those mice of yours, which destroy the land. And you shall give glory to the Lord, that he may remove his hand 6 from you, and from your gods, and from your land. Now why do you continue obstinate, as Egypt and Pharao did? Did they not when he had insulted them, send the people away, 7 and they departed? Now therefore, take and provide a new cart, and two heifers lately calved, without their young, and yoke the heifers to the cart, and bring home their calves from 8 them. Then take the ark, and put it in the cart, with the jewels of gold which you shall give for an atonement, and lay them on a bed, Bersechthan, by its side, and send it away. And 9 when you have driven it off, you shall quit it, and look. If it taketh the road to its own borders, leading by Baithsamus, then hath he done us this great evil; but if not, we shall then know that his hand hath not touched us, but that this is a ca10 sualty which hath befallen us. Accordingly the Philistines did so. They took two heifers which had lately calved, and yoked them

11 to the cart, and shut up their calves at home; and laid the ark

of the Lord in the cart, with the bed Ergab, and the golden 12 mice. And the cows took the straight road to the high way leading to Baithsamus, and proceeded on in one track, and though fatigued, they turned not aside to the right, nor to the left. And the lords of the Philistines followed it to the borders of Baithsamus.

13

Now the people of Baithsamus were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley; and when they raised their eyes, and saw 14 the ark of the Lord, they rejoiced at meeting it. So when the cart came into the field of Osea of Baithsamus, they set up there a great stone near it. Then cutting to pieces the wood of the cart, they offered the cows as a whole burnt offering to the 15 Lord. Then the Levites took up the ark of the Lord, and the

bed Ergab with it, and the jewels of gold which were by it, 16 and laid them on the great stone. And the men of Baithsamus offered whole burnt offerings, and sacrifices, that day to the Lord. And when the five lords of the Philistines saw this, 17 they returned to Ascalon the same day. Now these were the

golden stools which the Philistines gave for an atonement to the Lord-one for Azotus, one for Gaza, one for Ascalon, 18 one for Gath, and one for Akkaron. And the golden mice were according to the number of all the cities which belonged to the five lords of the Philistines, from the fenced city to the village of the Pherezites, and to the great stone, on which they had laid the ark of the Lord, and which is in the field of Osea, the Baithsamite.

19

But among the men of Baithsamus, the sons of Jechonias did not receive it with joy-because they looked into the ark of the Lord, therefore he smote among them seventy men, including fifty of the men's chiliad. Thereupon the people mourned, because the Lord had inflicted a very great blow on 20 that community; and the men of Baithsamus said, Who will

be able to pass by before the Lord, the holy God? And, To 21 whom shall the ark of the Lord go up from us. Then they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kariathiarim, saying, The Philistines have sent back the ark of the Lord, Come down VII. and take it up to you. Thereupon the men of Kariathiarim went, and carried up the ark of the covenant of the Lord,

and brought it to the house of Aminadab, who dwelt on the hill, and consecrated Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the co2 venant of the Lord. And from the day the ark was at Kariathiarim, days were multiplied, and twenty years elapsed. And 3 when all the house of Israel looked back after the Lord, Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, If with your whole heart you turn to the Lord, put away the strange gods from among you, and the bowers, and prepare your hearts for the Lord, and serve him alone, and he will deliver you out of 4 the hand of the Philistines. And when the children of Israel

had put away the Baals, and the bowers of Astaroth, and serv5 ed the Lord alone, Samuel said, Assemble all Israel to Mas6 sepha, and I will pray to the Lord for you. So they assembled at Massepha, and drew water, and poured it out before the Lord, on the ground, and fasted that day, and said, We have sinned before the Lord. And Samuel judged the children of Israel-at Massepha.

7

Now when the Philistines heard that all the children of Is rael were assembled at Massepha, the lords of the Philistines came up against Israel. Upon hearing this the children of Is rael were terrified because of the Philistines, and said to Sa8 muel, Cease not to cry to the Lord thy God for us, that he 9 may save us out of the hand of the Philistines. Thereupon

Samuel took a sucking lamb, and, with all the people, offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. And Samuel cried to 10 the Lord for Israel; and the Lord heard him. Now while Sa

muel was offering the whole burnt offering, the Philistines advanced to battle against Israel; and the Lord thundered that day with a great voice against the Philistines, and they were 11 discomfited, and fled before Israel. And the men of Israel went out from Massepha, and pursued the Philistines, and smote 12 them to below Baithcor. Then Samuel took a stone, and set it up between Massepha and the old town, and called its name Abenezer, (the stone of the helper;) for he said, Even at this 13 place the Lord helped us. And the Lord humbled the Philistines so that they came no more into the borders of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the 14 days of Samuel; So that the cities which the Philistines had taken from the Israelites were restored. They delivered them

up to Israel, from Ascalon to Azob. So Israel recovered their border out of the hand of the Philistines. And there was peace 15 between Israel and the Amorites. And Samuel judged Israel 16 all the days of his life, and went yearly, in rotation, to Baithel,

and Galgala, and Massepha, and judged Israel in all those holy 17 places. And his return was to Armathaim; for his house was there. And there he judged Israel, and there he built an altar to the Lord.

VIII. Now when Samuel grew old he appointed his sons 2 judges over Israel. And these were the names of his sons. His first born was Joel, and the name of his second son was Abia. 3 They were judges in Bersabee. But his sons did not walk in 4 his way. They turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and 5 perverted justice. Whereupon all the chief men of Israel assembled, and came to Armathaim, to Samuel, and said to him, Behold thou art grown old, and thy sons do not walk in thy way. Now therefore appoint a king over us to judge us like 6 the other nations. And the thing was evil in the sight of Sa7 muel, that they should say, Give us a king to judge us. And

Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, Hearken to the voice of this people as they have spoken to thee. For they have not rejected thee; but they have rejected me, 8 that I should not reign over them. According to all that they have done to me, from the day I brought them out of Egypt even to this day—as they have forsaken me, and served strange 9 gods, so they do also to thee. Now therefore hearken to their

voice. Nevertheless testify to them, and tell them the preroga10 tive of the king who shall reign over them. Upon this Samuel 11 told the people who asked of him a king, all the words of the

Lord, and said, This will be the prerogative of the king who shall reign over you. He will take your sons, and appoint them 12 for his chariots, and for his horsemen, and some to run before his chariots, and others to be made for him captains of hundreds, and captains of thousands, and some to reap his harvest, and gather his vintage, and to make his implements of war, and 13 arms for his chariots. And he will take your daughters for con14 fectioners, and cooks, and bakers. And he will take your fields,

and your vineyards, and your olive orchards, and give them to 15 his slaves. And he will take the tenth of your crops, and vine

VOL. I.

3 N